A New Generation: Blues of the 1960s

The 1960s were a time of new audiences for the blues. As African Americans largely turned away from the blues in favor of gospel and soul, whites in America and in the UK discovered the blues. This course will trace the changing audiences for the blues during the 1960s. We will discuss Samuel Charters’s pioneering scholarship that introduced blues artists to young white audiences, leading to the “rediscovery” of several blues artists. Simultaneously, British rock bands, like Cream, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones, covered the blues and introduced a new generation to the music. Finally, new artists, such as Hot Tuna, Canned Heat and the Butterfield Blues Band, appeared to change the sound of the blues.